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Energy audit sheds light on costly appliances, electronics

Posted on 18. Feb, 2010 by GMS Editor in Featured, Newsflash, ShowOnLatestPanel

By Ann Tatko-Peterson
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/12/2010 02:00:00 PM PST

PG&E brought my family an unwelcome gift in mid-November: a SmartMeter.

Since the Bay Area rollout last fall, these remotely read meters have come under fire. Consumers have complained that they do not accurately measure electricity usage, resulting in significantly higher utility bills.

I was worried. Reducing my carbon footprint and protecting the world from global warming hadn’t gotten my attention quite the way the SmartMeter, and more specifically the threat of losing money, had.

Never before had I considered auditing my energy consumption. I didn’t even realize that companies offered this service.

For me, the priority was avoiding a spike in my PG&E bill that wouldn’t require replacing major appliances, the furnace or water heater.

My family of three lives in a 30-year-old, 2,100-square-foot, two-story house with four bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms. The $2,027 we spent last year on utilities was almost in line with the annual U.S. average of $1,900, but well above the $1,206 average for homes in our city of Concord.

Hoping to bring down our energy use, I answered dozens of detailed questions in an online audit from Home Energy Saver (www.hes.lbl.gov). The resulting recommendations were what I expected: Switch to a natural gas dryer, replace our dishwasher and water heater with energy-efficient models, and have our ducts professionally sealed — all budget breakers.

But I found something I could do within our budget. The U.S. Department of Energy says energy used to power major and small appliances accounts for 17 percent of a household’s energy consumption. For us, that came to $750 a year.

Here are a few surprising discoveries I made while using the Watt-Minder in my self-audit. All costs are calculated using the baseline quantity rate.

Light bulbs: I bought into the myths about how compact fluorescent bulbs take too long to heat up, cast a harsh light and cost too much. Then I compared one 57-watt standard bulb to a 60-watt CFL. Left lit 24 hours a day, a standard bulb costs us $63.73 a year. A CFL, $12.08. Multiply those potential savings by the three dozen bulbs in our home and this one was a no-brainer.

Computer: Laziness and convenience long have prompted us to leave our computer and monitor running 24-7, at an annual cost of $88.48. The audit revealed that our actual computer use time is closer to 28 hours a week. By shutting it down between uses, we could save $73.77 a year.

“Phantom” loads: Do plugged-in appliances really draw power when switched off? Make that a resounding yes. The stereo with CD and tape player that we rarely use is costing us $26.57 a year just because it’s plugged in.

We spend $77.46 a year to watch an average of 8.5 hours of television each day. And more surprising, $15.80 a year for those 15½ hours daily when the set is turned off.

The U.S. Department of Energy has an efficient solution for this one. Simply plug home electronics into a power strip and turn off the strip when equipment is not in use. (California consumers also will save on energy costs if they purchase a television after Jan. 1, 2011, when the state’s new energy-efficiency standards go into effect for sets 58 inches or smaller.)

Energy-efficient vs. nonefficient: Call this the tale of two refrigerators. In the garage stands a nonefficient, 18-cubic-foot, top-freezer model manufactured in 1996. In the kitchen is a 6-year-old, energy-efficient, 25-cubic-foot, side-by-side with ice maker and door dispenser. The big spender? The energy-efficient refrigerator, costing almost $30 more a year to operate.

Switching to CFL bulbs, using power strips and better understanding the energy consumption of my appliances won’t drastically reduce my electric bills. But at least it’s a start.

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Tags: appliances, energy efficiency